LGBTQ RIGHTS/Pride marchers in Washington mark 5 decades of fight for equality

Washington, June 7 (CNA) Crowds holding rainbow flags marched in Washington D.C. on Saturday to mark the 50th anniversary of the pride parade in the U.S. capital, which is playing host this year to the global WorldPride Parade and festival.

WorldPride descended on Washington in late May with three weeks of various events planned by the Capital Pride Alliance, a nonprofit group that holds year-round LGBTQ+ Pride festivities in Washington and the region.

Saturday's parade started with "a rainbow flag the length of three football fields [flowing] through the streets, carried by 500 members of the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, D.C." and was attended by international travelers, the Associated Press reported.

Several participants in the parade, themed "Freedom to be Visible" shared their views on the current U.S. administration under President Donald Trump.

"Our rights are constantly under threat, and never more than right now. So, I think it's important to be here, be visible, show support, and stand up for our community," Jason Crawford, who was wearing a shirt printed with "TAIWAN" in rainbow colors, told CNA.

"I do think a lot of the stuff they are doing around DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) hurt us. But I think we're here to show that, no matter what they do, we don't go anywhere. We're not going to disappear. We'll always be here to protest and just fight back," a gay man named Jesus told CNA.

On March 18, Trump signed an executive order to remove DEI from the Foreign Service because the U.S. president "believes that hiring in all parts of government should be based solely on merit," according to the White House's statement at the time.

"We will terminate every diversity, equity, and inclusion program across the entire federal government," Trump said in the statement.

On Sunday, 2025 WorldPride's International Rally + March on Washington for Freedom will be held at the Lincoln Memorial in the morning, with a march to the U.S. Capitol Building set to begin at noon.

The day will conclude with the WorldPride DC Street Festival and Closing Concert, according to the event's website.

Following WorldPride, the Capital Pride Alliance has several events planned to mark the Pride Month of June, including the first Pride celebration in Washington D.C. -- Gay Pride Day -- originally organized by Deacon Maccubbin on June 22, 1975.

Washington initially lost the bid to host the WorldPride event to Kaohsiung in Taiwan in November 2021, but the Taiwanese preparation committee announced in August 2022 it would not host the 2025 event over disagreements with InterPride, the event's organizer.

It disagreed with InterPride on issues such as the event's name, including whether or not it should have "Taiwan" in it, and expectations of what a WorldPride event should look like.

Kaohsiung Pride, which takes place on the last Saturday in November, also had proposed to hold the 2025 WorldPride event in October, since the country's largest pride event -- the Taiwan LGBT Pride parade in Taipei -- has been held on the last Saturday of that month.